Auto-Vehicle Operation and Emission Assessment Tested under Ambient Conditions within Minna, Nigeria

Abstract

Heightened levels of auto-vehicle emissions are deemed to be one of the
significant contributors to environmental air pollution and health hazards
for road users. The frequent use of various auto-vehicles for commuting
purposes involving people and freight, especially within urban centres
proliferates this concern. This study deployed secondary data obtained
from the computerized vehicle inspection office in Minna, via the use of an
exhaust gas testing device (F 5000 – 5 series) to examine idle emission
data from the exhaust pipes of auto-vehicles. Emission data involving
three main pollutants namely, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrous oxide (NO),
and sulfur dioxide (SO2) was collected from 385 vehicles inspected at the
computerized vehicle inspection office in Minna. For reliability and
credibility, purposive sampling involving valid vehicular records was used
for data analysis. Empirical findings from the gas analyzer indicated that
CO and NO were the major pollutants with significant isolated concentrations among auto-vehicles. Their peak values observed were 19 ppm and 0.24 ppm respectively, for mass transit buses and heavy-duty vehicles. Results from the Binary Logistic Model (BLM) indicated that the frequency of vehicle maintenance through regular oil change (????1) as a predictor, was a significant factor in determining emission levels for tested auto-vehicles (???? < 0.05). The likelihood ratio, Exp(B) for ????1 compared to other predictors was 2.904.